The Skull of a Fearsome Ice Age Predator Is Headed to Auction

If you ever wanted to own part of a dire wolf, now’s your chance.
It‘s the real deal.
It‘s the real deal. | Heritage Auctions

From a Ceratosaurus that went up for auction in July to a Stegosaurus that broke records last year, it’s not unusual for fossilized bones to go to the highest bidder. One of latest specimens hitting the auction block went extinct relatively recently, but it’s still expected to fetch a high price. A dire wolf skull is predicted to net at least $30,000 when it goes up for sale at the end of August.

  1. A Dire Wolf Skull Could Drive High Bids

A Dire Wolf Skull Could Drive High Bids

Dire wolf skull
How menacing. | Heritage Auctions

The Ice Age canine’s skull measures nearly a foot long. According to the lot description, only the upper part of the skull is real, and the lower jawbone is a cast that has been painted and aged to match the rest of the fossil. The animal’s upper jaw shows normal wear and tear and a major canine tooth, which indicates it was a mature adult when it died.


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Popular Science reports that the skull of the carnivore will be one of many fossils featured in Heritage Auctions’s Nature & Science Signature Natural History Auction. Remains of the apex predator Tyrannosaurus rex are going up for auction at the same time. A 3-inch, slightly curved tooth is expected to sell for upwards of $12,000. Meanwhile, a vertebra weighing 6.6 pounds and measuring roughly 10 inches will likely earn $6000. Paleontology enthusiasts will also have a chance to take home fossilized bones from a cave bear, Triceratops, and the mososaur Tylosaurus proriger.

Heritage auctions
This T. rex tooth could be yours. | Heritage Auctions

The auction is set to take place on Friday, August 29, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. CDT. You can view all the lots on the Heritage Auctions website.

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